Clare K’s 2012 Nunavut Year List

This is my list of all bird species seen in Nunavut in 2012. I am not really a lister, it isn’t what drives me. Somewhere I have a life list, woefully in need of an update, with perhaps 800-900 species on it. I have no clue how many of those are in the ABA area.

I do, however, strongly believe in the data that individual day or event lists or surveys can bring, especially up here in the Arctic where we have a huge, mostly unpopulated area, with very few people collecting data. So I’ve long contributed lists or surveys to programs such as the Nunavut/NWT checklist program, Christmas Bird Counts and now eBird. I can’t stress enough that if you observe birds in Nunavut to enter that data, including breeding info, on eBird. The Nunavut/NWT checklist program people are now gathering much of their data from eBird. It’s easy to use eBird and the data means so much. Everyone should gather it.

This list follows no taxonomic order, but is arranged chronologically. I should see in the order of 40 species up here in a year, if I’m lucky and work at it. Taking the list in taxonomically won’t be a problem with a list that short. My goal this year is to see iconic Arctic species that will make Corey and Jochen mad with envy. That’s it.

Clare Kines is a retired Mountie and a failed businessman, which apparently qualifies him to be the Economic Development Officer for Arctic Bay Nunavut. Raised in Manitoba, Clare has lived in three provinces and two territories, managing to get kicked out of all them except this last one. So far. He has had a lifelong love of nature, never growing out a child’s curiosity. Given a Peterson’s guide by his grandfather, he made birds a big part of that love. He’s led tours to the high Arctic and Cuba, and writes probably the most northerly blog in the world, The House and other Arctic musings. He considers himself the luckiest man alive, having found great love twice in his life. His first wife, Janice, passed away in 1996. After moving north he met and fell for Leah. They have two fantastic children. He lives in an incredibly beautiful, magical part of the world - a place few people get to know.